A viral TikTok video showing piles of garbage dumped outside of a $1890-a-month Manhattan apartment has laid bare the high cost of rent in New York.
In the video, New Yorker Carol Gelgot takes viewers on a brief tour of her studio apartment before showing the view from her window: a large pile of refuse bags blocking the fire escape.
“If you’re looking for a sign to move to NYC, this is it,” an overlay on the clip reads.
The clip posted on Carol’s Notfromdenmark account has been watched 6.7 million times, and has sparked a conversation about the high cost of renting an apartment in the city.
In a subsequent clip, Carol is asked whether the garbage situation is legal.
She explains that “at no point” was she told that the garbage was stored outside her window before being taken away.
“It wasn’t in the lease, they didn’t mention it when I toured.”
She says the garbage is collected once a week, and piles up each week.
“You live in the orphanage from Annie?” one commenter asks.
“It’s a hard knock life,” Carol replies.
In another video, Carol explains that the rent is $1890 per month with all her bills included, but she is only paying $1575 after getting two months free due to a Covid discount.
She says $1575 is at the top end of what she can afford, and will move out once her 12-month lease is up.
“What’s the appeal of living there?” asks one commenter. “I have a 2400 sq ft house in the woods and my mortgage is way less than your rent.”
Carol replies to say: “You can’t get a bacon egg and cheese bagel from the deli that’s a 1 minute walk away when you live in a house in the woods.”
